Stanley Jean-Baptiste talks about joining the New Orleans Saints

What did you like about the Saints and what do you feel like maybe your role can be?

“Hopefully my role will be to help win games, (and) help make an immediate impact. What I liked about the Saints was their offense is great, their defense is great, (they have a) great defensive coordinator (Rob Ryan), (and) great defensive backs with Keenan Lewis, Champ Bailey, (Kenny) Vaccaro, Jarius Byrd who they just signed. I am just happy to be a part of it.”

What was your reaction to getting to play with a guy like Champ Bailey?

“My reaction is I am excited really. Hopefully he will take me in with open arms and he can teach me what he knows.”

How much do you feel like the Saints can really have the potential to be a Super Bowl defense with all the talent they’ve added with you included?

“I think the Saints have just as much potential as anybody else, including Seattle. Like I said earlier, they have great defensive backs and a great defensive coordinator and with that combined I think they can be really good. I think we can be really good.”

Do you feel like it helps your maturity level being a fifth-year senior? And what does it mean to you being a fifth-year senior and finally getting to this stage?

“I think being a fifth-year senior helped me mature more. It helped me understand the game more especially in my position playing defensive back for two and a half years. It helped me understand the game and have this go down for me.”

You went to Nebraska as a wide receiver. At what point did you realize it was time for you to switch to cornerback and how much do you think having played wide receiver early on helps you be a better cornerback?

“I think playing (wide) receiver helped me with a lot of things. It helped me with ball skills. It helped me read the formations real easy. It helped me break down the tendencies that receivers like to do. It helped me a lot.”

Did you have a feeling that the Saints were a team that might take you? Are you happy with where you went? Did you think you might go higher? What were your feelings as the draft unfolded?

“My feeling was just to go along with it. Everything was out of my hands. I’m excited the Saints picked me up. I kept hearing everything from first round to third round so being selected in any of those rounds was out of my hands. I was just waiting for a team to select me and I’m glad it was the Saints.”There have been a lot of comparisons physically to Richard Sherman and the Seattle secondary. That is flattering I assume. Were you aware that while Seattle was having so much success that could help your draft stock as this year went on?

“I was aware of it, everyone comparing me to Richard Sherman. I heard all the rumors (and) all the details, I was paying attention to everything that they were saying. I think it had a big part to play in it, but at the end of the day hopefully the Saints took me for the person I am and the skillsets I bring.”

What was it that took you a few years to bounce around a few schools? What was the most important thing that happened for you in those developmental years?

“My background was just coming out of high school, going to prep school, junior college, then ended up at Nebraska. It just taught me a lot, growing up, that being on your own you just have to keep working at it, you can’t give up. Junior college really taught me all of that. Going to Nebraska, it just sunk in and that’s when I started focusing up and understanding that I could go as far as I want to go.”

Were you not highly recruited? What was the reason you had to start in junior college?

“I had schools looking at me but the reason I transferred to a junior college was because my GPA didn’t match up with my test scores. I didn’t have the ACT score, I was a late qualifier.”

With a name like Jean-Baptiste you sound like you could be from Louisiana. What is your background beyond Miami?
“My mom and dad are from Haiti, so Haitian.”

What are your impressions of Rob Ryan?
“I love Rob Ryan, great defensive mind. You never know what he is going to bring, what kind of defense he is coming up with. I think he is just a great defensive coordinator.”

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